Erdogan’s Government Moves to Further Curb Turkish Army’s Powers

By Selcan Hacaoglu -
Jun 27, 2013

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government is preparing to submit a bill to parliament
to amend Article 35 of the military charter, which was used by
the army as a legal excuse to defend past coups, Deputy Prime
Minister Bekir Bozdag said.

Bozdag told reporters in Ankara today that the bill is
likely to be approved in October after the legislature’s summer
recess. It’s the latest move by Erdogan’s Islamist-rooted
government to curtail the military’s decades-old influence over
politics.

The army, which pressured four governments out of power
since 1960, has argued that Article 35 empowers it to act
against any threat. The article, without elaborating, says the
duty of the Armed Forces is to defend and protect the Turkish
homeland and the Republic of Turkey as defined in the
Constitution.

Erdogan’s government has jailed hundreds of retired and
serving officers, including dozens of generals, for plotting to
overthrow his government in 2003, as well as generals who forced
the resignation of the country’s first Islamist prime minister
in 1997. He also put two leaders of a 1980 military coup on
trial.

Erdogan, who has won three elections with a growing
majority, has rejected allegations by secularists that he is
seeking revenge on the military. Today’s announcement follows
several weeks of anti-government protests in Istanbul, Ankara
and other cities, which Erdogan has blamed on the secularist
main opposition party, extremist groups and financial
speculators.